Air flow measuring device

ABSTRACT

An air flow measuring device has a throttle portion provided in a first sub-passage, a second sub-passage branched from the first sub-passage at an upstream side of the throttle portion, and a flow amount sensor located in the second sub-passage. The second sub-passage is configured to introduce therein a part of air flowing in the first sub-passage, and an inlet of the second sub-passage is open into the first sub-passage at one side in a first radial direction perpendicular to a flow direction of air flowing in the first sub-passage. Furthermore, the throttle portion is provided to gradually reduce a passage dimension of the first sub-passage in a second radial direction, as toward an outlet of the first sub-passage. Here, the second radial direction is perpendicular to a surface defined by the first radial direction and the flow direction of air in the first sub-passage.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/120,882,filed May 15, 2008, which is based on Japanese Patent Application No.2007-157314 filed on Jun. 14, 2007, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an air flow measuring device having afirst sub-passage configured to introduce therein a part of air flowingin an interior of a duct, a second sub-passage configured to introducetherein a part of air flowing in the first sub-passage, and a flowamount sensor located in the second sub-passage to measure a flow amountof air.

2. Description of the Related Art

An air flow measuring device described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,089,788(corresponding to JP 2005-140753A) is provided for measuring a flowamount of intake air flowing into an internal combustion engine. Asshown in FIG. 3, the air flow measuring device includes a sensor body110 disposed in an intake air passage 100 of the internal combustionengine. The sensor body 110 is provided with a first sub-passage 120into which a part of air flowing in the intake air passage 100 isintroduced, and a second sub-passage 130 into which a part of airflowing in the first sub-passage 120 is introduced. A flow amount sensor140 is located in the second sub-passage 130. The second sub-passage 130is formed into approximately a U-shape around a partition wall 150.Furthermore, a protrusion plate 150 a is provided to protrude from thepartition wall 150 into the first sub-passage 120 so that the dynamicpressure of air flowing in the first sub-passage 120 is received by theprotrusion plate 150 a. Therefore, a pressure difference between aninlet side and an outlet side of the first sub-passage 120 is increased,and thereby it is possible to introduce a sufficient flow amount of airinto the second sub-passage 130 from the first sub-passage 120.

In the flow amount measuring device, when dust contained in air passesin the first sub-passage 120, the dust collides with the protrusionplate 150 protruding into the interior of the first sub-passage 120,bounces on the protrusion plate 150 and enters the second sub-passage130, as in the arrows shown in FIG. 3. The dust entering the secondsub-passage 130 may collides with the flow amount sensor 140 located inthe second sub-passage 130. In particular, when a thin film-likemeasuring element is used in the flow amount sensor 140, the measuringelement is easily damaged by the collision with the dust.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing problems, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide an air flow measuring device, which can preventdust contained in air from colliding with a flow amount sensor.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an air flowmeasuring device, which can effectively reduce dust entering from afirst sub-passage portion into a second sub-passage portion so as torestrict a collision of dust with a flow amount sensor.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an air flow measuringdevice for measuring a flow amount of air flowing in an interior of aduct includes a first sub-passage portion configured to introducetherein a part of air flowing in the duct, a throttle portion providedin the first sub-passage portion to gradually reduce a passage sectionalarea of the first sub-passage portion as toward an outlet of the firstsub-passage portion, a second sub-passage portion branched from thefirst sub-passage portion at an upstream side of the throttle portion ina flow direction of air flowing in the first sub-passage portion, and aflow amount sensor located in the second sub-passage portion to measurea flow amount of air flowing in the second sub-passage portion. Thesecond sub-passage portion is configured to introduce therein a part ofair flowing in the first sub-passage portion, the second sub-passageportion has an inlet at which the second sub-passage portion is branchedfrom the first sub-passage portion, and the inlet of the secondsub-passage portion is open into the first sub-passage portion at oneside in a first radial direction that is perpendicular to a flowdirection of air flowing in the first sub-passage portion. Furthermore,the throttle portion is provided to gradually reduce a passage dimensionof the first sub-passage portion in a second radial direction, as towardthe outlet of the first sub-passage portion. Here, the second radialdirection is perpendicular to a surface defined by the first radialdirection and the flow direction of air flowing in the first sub-passageportion.

Because the throttle portion is provided to gradually reduce a passagedimension of the first sub-passage portion in the second radialdirection as toward the outlet of the first sub-passage portion, dustdoes not fly into the inlet of the second sub-passage portion even whenthe dust collides with the throttle portion. Accordingly, it canrestrict the dust from entering into the second sub-passage portion,thereby preventing the dust from colliding with the flow amount sensor.

For example, the throttle portion is constructed of a pair of wallportions extending in a direction parallel to the first radialdirection. In this case, the pair of wall portions is located togradually reduce a distance between the wall portions as toward theoutlet of the first sub-passage portion.

Furthermore, the air flow measuring device may be used for an internalcombustion engine, as an example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be morereadily apparent from the following detailed description of preferredembodiments when taken together with the accompanying drawings. Inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view showing an air flow measuring deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a cross sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1and showing an example of a throttle portion in a first sub-passage, andFIG. 2B is a cross sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1and showing another example of the throttle portion in the firstsub-passage; and

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view showing an air flow measuring device ina prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An air flow measuring device 1 of an embodiment will be now describedwith referent to FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B. For example, the air flow measuringdevice 1 can be used as an air flow meter for measuring a flow amount ofintake air in an internal combustion engine for a vehicle. The air flowmeasuring device 1 includes a sensor body 2, a flow amount sensor 3 anda circular module 4.

The sensor body 2 is inserted into an interior of an intake air duct 5of the engine. Air flows into an intake air port of the engine throughthe intake air duct 5. The intake air duct 5 has an attachment holeportion 5 a into which the sensor body 2 is fitted after the sensor body2 is inserted into the interior of the intake air duct 5. The sensorbody 2 is provided with a first sub-passage 6 into which a part of airflowing in the intake air duct 5 is introduced, and a second sub-passage7 into which a part of air flowing in the first sub-passage 6 isintroduced.

In the example of FIG. 1, air flows through the intake air duct 5 fromthe left side toward the right side. The first sub-passage 6 has aninlet 6 a that is open toward an upstream air side (i.e., left side inFIG. 1) of the intake air duct 5, and an outlet 6 b that is open towarda downstream air side (i.e., right side in FIG. 1) of the intake airduct 5. The first sub-passage 6 is formed to extend approximately in astraight line from the inlet 6 a to the outlet 6 b along the flowdirection of air in the intake air duct 5. Furthermore, an outlet sideof the first sub-passage 6 a is provided with a throttle portion (i.e.,passage-area reducing portion) in which a passage sectional area of thefirst sub-passage 6 a is gradually reduced as toward the outlet 6 b ofthe first sub-passage 6.

The second sub-passage 7 has an inlet 7 a branched from the firstsub-passage 6, and an outlet 7 b opened toward the downstream air sideof the intake air duct 5 at a position adjacent to the outlet 6 b of thefirst sub-passage 6. The outlet 7 b is formed into approximately acircular shape around the outlet 6 b of the first sub-passage 6. Apartition wall 10 is located in the sensor body 2 so that the secondsub-passage 7 is formed to be approximately U-turned from the inlet 7 ato the outlet 7 b. In this embodiment, the flow direction of air flowinginto the inlet 7 a is turned substantially by 180° in the secondsub-passage 7 at one end side opposite to the inlet 7 a and the outlet 7b. The partition wall 10 is spaced from the inner wall of the secondbody 2 to form a turning portion at the one end side opposite to theinlet 7 a and the outlet 7 b. The partition wall 10 extends in adirection approximately perpendicular to the flow direction of air inthe first sub-passage 6. A tilt surface 7 d is located to be tilted fromthe extending direction of the partition wall 10.

The flow amount sensor 3 measures and detects a flow amount of airflowing through the second sub-passage 7, and outputs the detected flowamount as an electrical signal (e.g., electrical voltage signal). Forexample, the flow amount sensor 3 includes a temperature sensing elementand a heat generating element formed on a surface of a semiconductorsubstrate by a thin film resistor (not shown). The heat generatingelement and the temperature sensing element are connected to a circuitsubstrate (not shown) located inside the circuit module 4. As anexample, the flow amount sensor 3 is located at the U-turning portion ofthe second sub-passage 7, as shown in FIG. 1.

The circuit module 4 is formed integrally with the sensor body 2, and islocated outside of the intake air duct 5. The circuit module 4 controlsan electrical current value applied to the heat generating element sothat a difference between the temperature of the heat generating elementand air temperature detected by the temperature sensing element becomesconstant.

Next, the throttle portion (passage-area reducing portion) provided atthe outlet side in the first sub-passage 6 will be described.

In this embodiment, a first radial direction of the first sub-passage 6indicates the top-bottom direction of FIG. 1, and a second radialdirection of the first sub-passage 6 indicates a radial directionperpendicular to a surface defined by the top-bottom direction shown inFIG. 1 and the flow direction of air in the first sub-passage 6. In FIG.1, the first radial direction of the first sub-passage 6 corresponds theextending direction of the partition wall 10, and the second radialdirection of the first sub-passage 6 corresponds to a direction parallelto the face-back direction of the paper of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2A or 2B, a pair of wall portions 8 are provided in thefirst sub-passage 6 to gradually reduce a passage sectional dimension inthe second radial direction as toward the outlet 6 b. FIG. 2A is anexample of the pair of wall portions 8 of the embodiment, and FIG. 2B isanother example of the pair of wall portions 8 of the embodiment. Thewall portions 8 are provided to extend in a direction parallel to thefirst radial direction (i.e., top-bottom direction of FIG. 1). As shownin FIGS. 2A and 2B, the wall portions 8 are tilted with respect to theaxial line of the first sub-passage 6, such that the clearance betweenthe wall portions 8 in the second radial direction is gradually reducedas toward downstream, and the outlet 6 b is formed at the downstream endside of the wall portions 8. That is, the throttle portion is formed bythe wall portions 8 in an area near the outlet 6 b.

In this embodiment, the partition wall 10 does not protrude into thefirst sub-passage 6 in the first radial direction (i.e., top-bottomdirection in FIG. 1). That is, the tilt surface 7 d tilted to adownstream air side of the first sub-passage 6 with respect to thepartition wall 10 is not protruded into the first sub-passage 6 in thefirst radial direction. Furthermore, a wall surface 7 c is provided inthe sensor body 2, and is tilted approximately in parallel to the tiltsurface 7 d. Therefore, air flowing from the first sub-passage 6 to thesecond sub-passage 7 is bent by an acute angle smaller than the rightangle, and thereby it is difficult for the dust contained in the air toenter from the first sub-passage 6 into the second sub-passage 7 throughthe inlet 7 a.

Next, operation of the air flow measuring device 1 will be described.

When air flows in the intake air duct 5 when operation of the engine isstarted, a part of air in the intake air duct 5 is introduced into thefirst sub-passage 6 of the sensor body 2, and a part of air flowing inthe first sub-passage 6 is introduced into the second sub-passage 7. Theflow amount sensor 3 located in the second sub-passage 7 is set suchthat the heat radiating amount of the heat generating element of theflow amount sensor 3 becomes larger as the flow speed of air flowing inthe second sub-passage 7 becomes larger. Therefore, in the flow amountsensor 3, the electrical current value applied to the heat generatingelement is made larger as the flow speed of air in the secondsub-passage 7 becomes larger, so that the temperature difference betweenthe temperature of the heat generating element and the air temperaturedetected by the temperature sensing element becomes constant. Incontrast, when the flow amount of air flowing in the second sub-passage7 becomes smaller, the heat radiating amount of the heat generatingelement is decreased, thereby the electrical current value applied tothe heat generating element becomes smaller. An electrical signal (e.g.,electrical current signal) corresponding to the electrical current valueapplied to the heat generating element is output from the circuit module4 to an exterior ECU (i.e., electronic control unit) so that the flowamount of the intake air is measured by the ECU.

In the air flow measuring device 1 of the embodiment, the throttleportion is provided in the first sub-passage 6 at a downstream end side(outlet side), thereby increasing the pressure difference between theinlet side and the outlet side of the first sub-passage 6. As a result,an air amount that is sufficient for the measuring at the flow amountsensor 3 can flow into the second sub-passage 7 from the firstsub-passage 6, and thereby the detection accuracy of the flow amountsensor 3 can be made stable.

The throttle portion is constructed of the pair of wall portions 8provided at two sides of the axial line of the first sub-passage 6 inthe second radial direction. The wall portions 8 are provided in thefirst sub-passage 6 at a downstream side of the branch portion (i.e.,inlet 7 a) in the flow direction of air in the first sub-passage 6, soas to gradually reduce the passage sectional area of the firstsub-passage 6 as toward the outlet 6 b of the first sub-passage 6. Inthis embodiment, a throttle portion for reducing the passage sectionalarea of the first sub-passage 6 is not provided in the first radialdirection (i.e., top-bottom direction) where the inlet 7 a of the secondsub-passage 7 is open. Therefore, even when the dust contained in aircollides with the wall portion 8, the dust does not fly toward the firstradial direction (i.e., top-bottom direction) of the first sub-passage6, in which the inlet 7 a of the second sub-passage 7 is opened, butflows out of the outlet 6 b of the first sub-passage 6, as shown in FIG.2A. Accordingly, it can restrict the dust contained in air from enteringinto the second sub-passage 7 from the first sub-passage 6, therebyrestricting the dust from colliding with the flow amount sensor 3.

FIG. 2B shows a case where a tilt angle θ of the wall portion 8 islarger than that in the example of FIG. 2A. As shown in FIG. 2B, whenthe tilt angle θ of the wall portion 8 relative to a direction parallelto the axial line of the first sub-passage 6 is made larger, dust hitsthe wall portion 8 and bounds toward the upstream air side (i.e., inletside) in the first sub-passage 6. However, in this case, as shown by thearrow in FIG. 2B, the dust only bounds back in a surface including thesecond radial direction, without bounding back to the first radialdirection where the inlet 7 a of the second sub-passage 7 is open. Thus,as shown in FIG. 2B, the dust flying back toward the upstream side(inlet side) of the first sub-passage 6 is U-turned to flow again towardthe outlet 6 b of the first sub-passage 6. Accordingly, it can restrictthe dust flowing together with air in the first sub-passage 6 fromentering into the second sub-passage 7, thereby preventing the dust fromcolliding with the flow amount sensor 3. As a result, it can prevent adamage of the thin film resistor that is used for the flow amount sensor3.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the inlet passage 7 e having theinlet 7 a of the second sub-passage 7 is tilted relative to the firstradial direction of the first sub-passage 6 such that the inlet passage7 e of the second sub-passage 7 is positioned upstream from the inlet 7a in the flow direction of air in the first sub-passage 6. Thus, dustcontained in air is difficult to enter the inlet passage 7 e of thesecond sub-passage 7 because of the inertial force of the flow of thedust in the first sub-passage 7.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the inlet 7 a of thesecond sub-passage 7 is open in the first radial direction, and theinner wall surface of the first sub-passage 6 does not protrude into thefirst sub-passage 6 in the first radial direction of the firstsub-passage 6. That is, the first sub-passage 6 has a radial dimensionin the first radial direction, that is approximately constant from theinlet 6 a of the first sub-passage 6 to the outlet 6 b of the firstsub-passage 6. Therefore, it can restrict the dust from entering intothe second sub-passage 7 after collision with a wall portion of thefirst sub-passage 6.

In the above-described embodiment, the air flow measuring device 1includes the first sub-passage 6 configured to introduce therein a partof air flowing in the duct 5, the throttle portion provided in the firstsub-passage 6 to gradually reduce a passage sectional area of the firstsub-passage 6 as toward the outlet 6 b of the first sub-passage 6, thesecond sub-passage 7 branched from the first sub-passage 6 at anupstream side of the throttle portion in the flow direction of airflowing in the first sub-passage 6, and the flow amount sensor 3 locatedin the second sub-passage 7 to measure a flow amount of air flowing inthe second sub-passage 7. The second sub-passage 7 is configured tointroduce therein a part of air flowing in the first sub-passage 6, andthe second sub-passage 7 has the inlet 7 a at which the secondsub-passage 7 is branched from the first sub-passage 6. Furthermore, theinlet 7 a of the second sub-passage 7 is open into the first sub-passage6 at one side in the first radial direction that is perpendicular to theflow direction of air flowing in the first sub-passage 6. In addition,the throttle portion is provided to gradually reduce a passage dimensionof the first sub-passage 6 in the second radial direction, as toward theoutlet 6 b of the first sub-passage 6. Here, the second radial directionis perpendicular to a surface defined by the first radial direction andthe flow direction of air flowing in the first sub-passage 6. Thus, itis possible to increase the pressure different between the inlet sideand the outlet side of the first sub-passage 6, and thereby a sufficientair amount can be introduced into the second sub-passage 7. Because thethrottle portion is provided to gradually reduce the passage dimensionof the first sub-passage 6 in the second radial direction as toward theoutlet 6 b of the first sub-passage 6, dust does not fly into the inlet7 a of the second sub-passage 7 even when the dust collides with thethrottle portion. Accordingly, it can restrict the dust from enteringinto the second sub-passage 7, thereby preventing the dust fromcolliding with the flow amount sensor 3.

For example, the throttle portion can be constructed of the pair of wallportions 8 extending in a direction parallel to the first radialdirection. In this case, the pair of wall portions 8 can be located togradually reduce a distance between the wall portions 8 as toward theoutlet 6 b of the first sub-passage 6.

Furthermore, the second sub-passage 7 may have an inlet passage 7 e thatis provided outside of the first sub-passage 6 to extend from the inlet7 a of the second sub-passage 7. In this case, the inlet passage 7 eextending downstream in the second sub-passage 7 from the inlet 7 a ofthe second sub-passage 7 is tilted, relative to the first radialdirection, in a tilt direction toward an upstream side of air in thefirst sub-passage 6. Accordingly, dust contained in the air flowing inthe first sub-passage 6 is difficult to flow into the second sub-passage7.

OTHER EMBODIMENTS

Although the present invention has been fully described in connectionwith the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to theaccompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes andmodifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the flow amount sensor 3is located at the U-turning portion of the second sub-passage 7.However, the flow amount sensor 3 may be located at a position upstreamfrom the U-turning portion in the second sub-passage 7, or may belocated at other position in the second sub-passage 7.

Such changes and modifications are to be understood as being within thescope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. An air flow measuring device for measuring a flow amount of airflowing in an interior of a duct, the air flow measuring devicecomprising: a first sub-passage portion configured to introduce thereina part of air flowing in the duct; a throttle portion provided in thefirst sub-passage portion to gradually reduce a passage sectional areaof the first sub-passage portion as toward an outlet of the firstsub-passage portion; a second sub-passage portion branched from thefirst sub-passage portion at an upstream side of the throttle portion ina flow direction of air flowing in the first sub-passage portion, thesecond sub-passage portion being configured to introduce therein a partof air flowing in the first sub-passage portion; and a flow amountsensor located in the second sub-passage portion to measure a flowamount of air flowing in the second sub-passage portion, wherein: thesecond sub-passage portion has an inlet at which the second sub-passageportion is branched from the first sub-passage portion; the inlet of thesecond sub-passage portion is open into the first sub-passage portion atone side in a first radial direction that is perpendicular to a flowdirection of air flowing in the first sub-passage portion; the throttleportion is provided to gradually reduce a passage dimension of the firstsub-passage portion in a second radial direction, as toward the outletof the first sub-passage portion, the second radial direction beingperpendicular to a first plane extending in the first radial directionand extending in the flow direction of air flowing in the firstsub-passage portion; the throttle portion is provided solely along adownstream side portion in the first sub-passage portion, downstream ofthe opening of the inlet of the second sub-passage portion; and thefirst sub-passage portion extends in a straight line from an inlet ofthe first sub-passage portion to the outlet of the first sub-passageportion.
 2. The air flow measuring device according to claim 1, wherein:the throttle portion is constructed of a pair of wall portions, eachextending from respective walls of said first sub-passage portion in adirection downstream and toward a center axis of said passage togradually reduce a distance between the wall portions as toward theoutlet of the first sub-passage portion.
 3. The air flow measuringdevice according to claim 1, wherein the throttle portion is configuredby gradually reducing the passage dimension of the first sub-passageportion in the second radial direction, without throttling a passagedimension of the first sub-passage portion in the first radialdirection.
 4. The air flow measuring device according to claim 1,wherein: the second sub-passage portion has an inlet passage that isprovided outside of the first sub-passage portion to extend from theinlet of the second sub-passage portion; and the inlet passage extendingdownstream in the second sub-passage portion from the inlet of thesecond sub-passage portion is tilted, relative to the first radialdirection, such that the inlet passage of the second sub-passage ispositioned upstream from the inlet of the second sub-passage portion inthe flow direction of air in the first sub-passage portion.
 5. The airflow measuring device according to claim 1, wherein: the duct isconfigured to define therein an intake air passage communicating with anintake air port of an internal combustion engine, such that the airflowing in the duct flows into the internal combustion engine.
 6. Theair flow measuring device according to claim 1, wherein: the firstsub-passage portion has a substantially constant passage diameter insaid first plane, along said downstream side portion to the outlet ofthe first sub-passage portion.
 7. The air flow measuring deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein each of said wall portions is planar andoriented in parallel to the first radial direction.
 8. The air flowmeasuring device according to claim 1, wherein the second sub-passageportion has an outlet open at a position adjacent to the outlet of thefirst sub-passage portion.
 9. The air flow measuring device according toclaim 8, wherein the outlet of the second sub-passage portion is formedinto approximately a circular shape around the outlet of the firstsub-passage portion.
 10. The air flow measuring device according toclaim 1, further comprising a partition wall so that the secondsub-passage portion is formed to be approximately U-turned from theinlet thereof to an outlet thereof so that the flow direction of airflowing into the inlet of the second sub-passage portion is turnedsubstantially by 180° in the second sub-passage portion at an end sideopposite to the inlet and the outlet.
 11. The air flow measuring deviceaccording to claim 10, wherein the partition wall is spaced from aninner wall remote from the inlet and the outlet to form a turningportion at said end side opposite to the inlet and the outlet.
 12. Theair flow measuring device according to claim 10, wherein the partitionwall extends in a direction approximately perpendicular to the flowdirection of air in the first sub-passage portion.